The present invention relates to transfer devices in general, and more particularly to a programmable high speed pick and place unit of the robotic type useful in a factory environment to perform a plurality of transfer or manipulating functions.
Transfer devices have been provided in the past which provide an arm or plurality of arms which when attached to a desired tool perform the function of transferring material from one location to another, or any of a number of manufacturing operations such as painting, ribbeting, drilling, etc. However, in each of these operations, when practiced in the production environment, the requirement of speed and reliability are of the utmost importance in performing the required task or function a great many times over a long period of time.
In order to provide a transfer device of optimum speed and reliability, it is necessary to have a minimum inertia within the system combined with a limited number of elements. Many commercially available transfer mechanisms are of the two-axis type and are designed in such a way that the axis with the longer motion carries the entire drive system and is therefore inherently a high inertia system. In other devices wherein a two-axis mechanism is employed, the drive system may be embodied on a pair of movable shafts. However, the drive system is rotated or moved about with each of the shafts again providing a relatively high inertia to the system.
Additionally, while eliminating the number of moving parts in a transfer device in addition to decreasing the inertia of the entire system, the elimination of parts per say produces a machine which is simple in construction and economically produced at a savings which is multiplied by the number of devices necessary on a production line of a type employed in many manufacturing processes.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a transfer device of the dual axis type having a low inertia and therefore a greater potential for high speed performance.
Another object of the invention is to provide a dual axis transfer mechanism having a minimum of movable parts to provide economical manufacture as well as low inertia to the transfer device system.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a dual axis transfer device of the type under consideration which provides a greater amount of versatility in its employment and which is simple in operation to provide adaptability into a computerized system.